Atimonan mayor Jose Mendoza dismissed for sacking driver

For defying a lawful order of a constitutional authority, Mayor Jose Mendoza of Atimonan, Quezon, was ordered dismissed from the service for Gross Neglect of Duty and Oppression.

He was also meted out the accessory penalties of perpetual disqualification from holding public office, cancellation of eligibility, bar from taking the civil service examinations, and forfeiture of retirement benefits.

The case stemmed from a complaint filed by a certain Romeo Parin who was illegally dismissed by Mendoza as driver of the municipality in 2010. Parin sought Mendoza’s reconsideration but to no avail.

The case was elevated to the Civil Service Commission (CSC) which ruled in Parin’s favor and ordered Mendoza to reinstate him with back wages.

In May 2013, the CSC issued a resolution granting Parin’s Motion for Execution but the same remained unexecuted until September 2014.

In ruling against Mendoza, Ombudsman Morales stated that respondent “blatantly refused to reinstate complainant and to pay him back wages without justifiable reason.”

In a six-page Decision, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales directed the Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government to immediately implement the dismissal and to promptly report the action taken.

The Decision stated that “said act cannot be countenanced without running afoul of the established rule of actions of government officials and employees” highlighting that “respondent’s show of arrogance and persistent disregard of lawful orders of a constitutional body continued while serving anew as mayor of Atimonan.”